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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Alexis Montgomery, a guard out of Beaverton, OR who was on campus this past weekend, has given her verbal pledge to the Louisville program.Montgomery is the second 2013 prospect to do so within the last day.

Attached is a good read, from Oregon Live reporter Jerry Ulmer. Link below:

Montgomery chose Louisville over Seattle University, Hawaii and Virginia Tech.Montgomery is ranked as the #57 guard in the class and joins #21 Emmonnie Henderson and JUCO stand out Janelle Cannon so far in the class of 2013.

Coach Walz and company are not done yet, either.Louisville is still in the running for top prospects Imani Wright (Texas) and Jordan Reynolds (Oregon).Keep it tuned here Cardinal faithful, for all the latest recruiting round up.

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It is hard not to be a bit disappointed when you come this close to landing the #1 recruit in the nation...to be the final cut on her list.You have to respect Russell’s decision, though.She is an incredible player and we look for her to have much success in her collegiate career.

That being said, Card Nation has much to look forward to!The Cardinals are preseason ranked #9 in the country; play at an amazing facility known as The KFC YUM! Center, and have a great coaching staff that was in it until the end with the #1 recruit in the nation.I expect more of these epic recruiting battles in the future.The Louisville program has proven that it is relevant and can go toe to toe with the top programs in the country.You win some recruiting battles and you lose some.When going against the best in the nation, one is bound to lose a few battles.

Our Cards are loaded with talent and are poised to take the program back to the Final Four as soon as this year.The coaching staff continues to work to bring in top prospects.Attendance is growing, and no doubt will continue to grow, and we look to break attendance records this year!

The Cardinal Spirit is alive and well.

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The future remains bright in Louisville!Card Fans, stand up and support our team!Your first opportunity to do so happens tonight, at The YUM! Center.The Cardinals play their one and only exhibition game against Eckerd College at 7:00 p.m.Admission is free!Get your trick or treating done early and head down to the YUM Center for more treats!!

( Editor's note. HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all our readers! Stay with CARDINAL COUPLE for Louisville womens sports treats all year long. We won't trick you on the facts and you'll have a spooky good time reading our unmasked reports on the Cards gobblin' up their opponents!)

We leave you today with a great song by the Byrds from 1970 which covers desire, pursuit, defeat and determination to try again. It parallels the pursuit of Ms. Russell.

We kept our hopes high and wish Mercedes the very best in her academic and collegiate basketball career. Not gonna kid you, this one hurts...but the Cardinal Spirit is strong, united and loyal. We'll cheer our hearts out for who is on the court.

A heartfelt thanks to the Louisville players, staff, coaches and fans who did their best to try and make Mercedes a Cardinal.

We go on. Cardinal WBB in the KFC YUM! Center tomorrow night to see a very good UofL WBB team that will be fun to watch and so very talented.

She's Mercedes Russell's best friend. Does it mean what we all hope it means?

Russell announces at 5:30 p.m.

The champagne is chilled.

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The University of Louisville women's basketball team had their Media Day today at the KFC YUM! Center and Coach Walz, the staff and players were on hand to speak and answer questions.

Jeff Walz addresses the media Tuesday

Shortly after noon, Coach Walz opened up the floor to questions and spent about a half hour answering them.

-- Walz spoke of the effort that Megan Deines, Sara Hammond and Bria Smith had put in over the summer...commenting that he'd never seen three players put so much work into their games in the offseason.

C.B. and Nicole set up chairs.

--Things he will be watching against Eckerd College tomorrow night are rebounding and defense. Reluctant at first to name a starting lineup, he eventually suggested that fans would see Shoni, Bria and Sara probably start and it was up for grabs after that.

--Walz has been impressed with the freshmen so far and indicated that Deines would see significant time at the wing. He also mentioned that they'd been bringing Cortnee Walton along slowly the last two weeks because of a heel bruise.

Team lines up fo team photo

--He's hoping to have Asia back out on the court by Thanksgiving and Mo at 100% by the start of BIG EAST play.

A lot of "new" media in attendance today and some questions asked that all Cardinal Couple readers have known the answers to for months.

We hit the floor about 12:30 and the players started trickling out onto the court after that. First out was Monique Reid, who was surrounded by the TV guys and patiently answered questions about her injury, her hopes, her role and amount of playing time.

I decided to take a different approach and went around and asked some of the players some fun and different questions. I think they enjoyed it. Here we go...

(Cardinal Couple columnist Sandy Walker takes us on her weekly stormy deluge through Cardinal Women's Athletics and more this morning. We'll be back later today with coverage on women's basketball recruiting announcements.)

Thanks to Hurricane Sandy I have been reminded that there truly is no place like home.Since leaving Louisville for what was to be a short vacation -- wind and rain from my namesake has literally chased me from Washington DC down the east coast to Asheville, NC, through the mountains and for me now safely back home although the car continues its journey on to Houston, TX.I find it remarkable that while in the same relatively short period of time that I have been holding onto what was to be a local use vacation rental car which now has enough new mileage to need replacement tires and a tune up that in addition to Janelle Cannon Emmonnie Henderson has announced that she will also be calling Louisville home for the next 4 years.Such a great double treat to also learn of Emmonnie’s announcement and hopefully today additional commitments by what are to be the future stars and adopted family members of Cardinal basketball. Emmonnie is ranked #21 in the latest ASGR report.

I wonder if they yet really and truly understand the virtual rock star status the players and coaches hold in what is truly a southern atmosphere college-team town.Fans of the Cards begin their attendance in strollers and end it in wheelchairs, yet they keep coming to watch returning and new Cardinal family members such as Emmonnie and Janelle -- and hopefully others which will commit today and beyond.I hope they do and are able to soak it all in as just as how so much had changed in the short time I was away, their time as a Cardinal player will pass all too quickly but they will always be a member of the Card Nation

U of L teams hold a separate but uniquely additional joint national record.Currently Women’s basketball is ranked 9th, Men’s basketball is ranked 2nd, Football is ranked 12th, Volleyball is ranked 12th, Men’s Soccer holds 14th while Men’s Swimming/Diving is16th and the Women’s team holds the 24th spot.We are unaware of any other team in the nation with 7 of its teams holding one of the top 25 national spots.

Single game tickets went on Sale Monday.Corner arena and baseline season tickets are still available.http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/102912aaa.htmlContact the ticket office at 502-852-5151. Also, don’t forget – U of L is pleased to be hosting the first and second rounds of the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament in the KFC Yum Center!. Tickets are currently on sale.Coach Walz had indicated the need to pre-sale at least 8,000 tickets at this year’s award of the openings rounds is hoped to be the beginning of what some day will culminate in the hosting of the Final 4 Championships.Selection to the 64 team NCAA tournament team will insure that U of L will play in the first round in their regular season home.A win would give them home court advantage also in the 2nd round which is also being played in Louisville.U of L has not enjoyed the tournament home court advantage in recent years, if ever.I would advise you to get your tickets now before the tournament teams are announced and you find yourself competing with fans from other teams for premium seats.

was named BIG EAST Conference Field Hockey Defensive Player of the week.She had 10 saves for the week including six in the 2-1 Providence win.She added four saves in the 4-3 overtime win against Ohio State. The 12-7, 3-3 Big East team faces Connecticut Friday in the semifinals which are being played at Trager Stadium.

Coach Walz is scheduled to talk to the media at noon today.The players will then be made available at12: 30.Paul and possibly Coco will be attending and providing a report

BASKET BALL PRE-SEASON RANKING

Saturday the Associated Press released the current pre-season rankings.Four returning starters from a 23-10 prior year’s record earned Louisville a 9th place position and is the highest pre-season projection ever received by the team.The always tough Big East had 5 teams included in the top 25.They are Connecticut, Notre Dame, St. John’s and DePaul.

The long awaited pre-season basketball tip-off game begins with an exhibition match with Eckerd College on Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 7:00 p.m. The KFC Yum! Center match will be the only exhibition game of the season and admission is free.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

The regular season tip off for women’s basketball is next Friday November 9. The return match from last year against No. 15 Texas A&M is at the YUM Center! At 7:00 p.m. and is a great opportunity to see the ladies avenge last year’s loss when the 2011 National Champion Aggies benefited not only by playing at home but also did not have to compete against Shoni.It will also be great to see Monique and Tia again on the court after the long rehab.

This game is a

RED OUT with the goal of filling the house this and every game as we the fans control U of L’s advance into placing the Cards in a position of having the highest average attendance of NCAA women’s basketball.Make your plans now for the game and bring a friend for what is the best value event for entertainment in the region.Coach Walz indicated at the tip off luncheon that if you get them in the door for the first time, the team will keep them coming back.

To help you painlessly get them in the door you can bring several friends to this match for $2.00 a ticket by showing a Kroger Plus Card at any U of L ticket office location.Information can be obtained by calling the U of L ticket office at (502) 852-5151.

The AVCA coaches poll has moved U of L up to No. 12 in the nation. Gwen Rucker was named to BIG EAST honor roll for the week. http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/102912aaa.html.Sunday’s win over Cincinnati gave the Volleycards a perfect record of 7-0 in away matches for the season. They are joined only by Hawaii and Marquette with perfect away match records for the year. Louisville will host a match against Marquette on Nov. 9 in Cardinal Arena.Prior to the NCAA tournament they will play the final four games of the regular season in Louisville against Villanova on Nov. 2, Georgetown on Nov. 4, Marquette on Nov. 9, and Cincinnati on Nov. 11.

Yesterday James Bowman of SB Nation / Swish Appeal has again created what it considers to be the best 100 women’s basketballDivision I programs for the 2012-2013 season. The link indicated are for teams published on Monday ranked as 71-100 http://www.swishappeal.com/2012/10/29/3509016/ncaa-womens-college-basketball-top-programs-71-100. The schedule continues today for teams ranked #41-70, Wednesday for #26-40 Thursday: #11-25 and Friday ends with teams they have ranked #1-10.

What caught my attention is that the rankings are their ranking of the 100 best programs in Division I. This is not the same thing as the 100 best teams in Division I for the 2012-13 season.Considerations were Wins and quality of competition, Attendance, Recruiting, and Hitting benchmarks.Benchmarks are Postseason play, win totals, Conference titles and tournament victories, All Americans and WNBA high draft picks.Excluded were Faraway glory, Coaching records and longevity and Academics.I will be checking each day looking for Louisville.

Emmonnie Henderson is a 6-2 forward from Edwardsville HS Illinois.She is also a dual sport athlete in shot put and discus, and as of this early evening, a future Louisville Cardinal.

The now defunct Hoopgurlz rated Henderson at #40 and All Star Girls Report ranks her at #21 in her class.Henderson was on campus this past weekend, and chose Louisville over her other finalist, powerhouse Tennessee.

For Cardinal Couple faithful readers, you may remember I wrote about her this past summer after seeing an AAU game.Henderson will be a huge asset in brutal Big East play.She is said to be “strong as an ox” and has a sturdy frame.Her attacking around the basket was powerful and consistent and scouts have been noting her extending her game away from the basket.Henderson is capable of playing multiple positions on the court and will be a matchup nightmare for opponents.

Henderson was one of four recruits on campus this weekend, and one of five still considering Louisville.Alexis Montgomery and Mercedes Russell, both from Oregon, will be announcing their college choice tomorrow.Jordan Reynolds, also from Oregon, was on campus this weekend.No timetable has been made available about when she will decide.Imani Wright, out of Texas, was on campus about a month ago, and is said to be very high on Louisville and deciding between Louisville and Baylor.

CardNation, it is time to stand up!Coach Walz is doing great things with this program; top recruits are coming, and choosing Louisville over perennial powerhouses.As a burgeoning fan base we are on the brink of overtaking the number one spot in fan attendance.

The future of Louisville Basketball just got a little brighter tonight!CardNation welcomes Emmonnie Henderson to the best Athletic Department in the country!

( Editor's note...A huge congratulations to Jeff Walz, the University of Louisville basketball staff and players and Cardinal fans for letting it be known that we wanted Emmonnie at Louisville. And a sincere "THANK YOU" and "WELCOME ABOARD!!" to the "Edwardsville Electrifier" -- Emmonnie Henderson! One down and more to come? Stay tuned to CARDINAL COUPLE for the latest and GO CARDS!)

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TUESDAY is Media Day for the WBB team at the KFC YUM! Center. Got a specific question that you'd like asked for one of the players and coaches? Paulie or Timmy the Intern will be glad to pose it!

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Emmonnie Henderson has pledged to Louisville. She was on campus this weekend and is what we hope the first of many from this weekend to commit to the University of Louisville Women's Basketball team! Stay tuned for more about Henderson.

The University of Louisville squad improved to 21-3 and 10-1 in the BIG EAST by knocking off Cincinnati 25-21, 25-13, 25-21 Sunday in Fifth Third Arena. Gwen Rucker and Lola Arslanbekova had 11 kills each in the Cardinal win.

Louisville started slowly in the first game and trailed UC 9-5 before a 5-1 Cardinal run tied the contest at 10-10. Cincinnati was able to regain the lead and Louisville didn't grab their first advantage until 17-16. UC never challenged after that and the Cards outscored the Bearcats to win going away by four.

Maybe a bit deflated by the loss...and definitely punished by the serving of Kaitlynn James, the Bearcats found themselves in a 7-0 hole to begin game two. Louisville pushed that to 13-2 and the only real question left was how many points would the Cards win by. They Cards enjoyed a 22-10 advantage and closed out the second game on a Lola kill to win by 12.

UC did try to make a match of it in the third game...jumping out to a 4-0 lead before the Cards regrouped and tied the contest at 9-9. A brief Bearcat rally gave them a 12-10 edge before the Cards went on a 9-4 rally to put them up 19-16. UofL continued the hot streak and was at set point at 24-18 before settling for the four-point win.

The Cards finally return home after the extended road trip and will face Villanova Friday night in Cardinal Arena at 7 p.m. They'll also host Georgetown Sunday at 2 p.m. in the KFC YUM! Center.

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Louisville Women's Soccer falls in triple overtime to South Florida.

The Cards and the Bulls battled through 110 minutes and two overtimes to a scoreless draw in BIG EAST Tournament action...necessitating a shoot-out third overtime. In the tie-breaker, each team got five penalty kicks to try and score on the opposing goalkeeper. With the scoring at 3-3, USF got the final attempt and USF freshman Olivia Chance sent one past UofL's Chloe Kiefer to break the tie and give USF the win.

The Cards outshot USF 16-13 in regulation and the two overtimes and Kiefer produced seven saves for UofL. Although USF advances to the semi-finals, the game gets recorded officially as a tie.

The Cards (10-4-4) now must wait until Nov.5th. to see if they get a bid to participate in the field of 64 in the NCAA Tournament.

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After one of the most highly anticipated women's basketball recruiting visit weekends in the history of Cardinal womens' hoops, the questions now are:

1) How did the visits go?2)When will Coach Walz and the fans know about verbals?3) What is Louisville's chance of getting all or some of the visitors?

All indicators and reports we've heard indicate that the girls visiting ( Mercedes Russell, Emmonnie Henderson, Alexis Montgomery and Jordan Reynolds) had a great time, got to go to the football game Friday, Coach Walz's birthday party, a haunted house tour, Cardinal basketball scrimmage and many other fun and exciting things. We'll keep an eye on Twitter and Facebook (and we hope you will too) to see what they're saying.

We know that verbals are on the way. We expect Reynolds', Montgomery's and Russell's on or by Tuesday. Henderson may not be far behind. We hope these verbal are in UofL's favor. We also remind you that Imani Wright is still a potential Cardinal. The impact of these five girls, plus already verballed juco Janelle Cannon is huge and would surely give the Cards the #1 recruiting class of 2013.

How will the Cards do? WE have no specific facts, no iron-clad guarantees or insider scoop...but it wouldn't surprise us if Louisville landed all five. The current players on Jeff Walz's squad were very impressed with the visitors and would love to have them join the Cardinal family.

Even though the coaching staff can't comment about them and the visits...we know that Walz & Company must be very high and sold on each them...otherwise they wouldn't have been here and made the talk of the town.

We know your anxious. We are anticipating big things as well. We've gotten a huge amount of e-mails on the visits and they range from the well-thought out to the ridiculous yet hopeful. We appreciate your thoughts, opinions, comments and predictions.

What it shows us is something we've known for awhile. This is a very passionate, caring and knowledge fan base that wants only the best for UofL sports and love their Lady Cards to death...a fan base that is unmatched in womens' college basketball.

Good things happen to those who wait. Patience is a virtue. WE feel confident UofL will be rewarded very soon.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

- LOUISVILLE and USF tied 0-0 in women's soccer at end of regulation and two overtimes. USF wins 3rd overtime in a shootout 4-3. (More on these Monday...)

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-Field Hockey defeats Providence 2-1 to make BIG EAST Tournament

-Jenny's observations on WBB Scrimmage

-Russell to announce decision Tuesday

-Cards #9 in ESPN Preseason Poll

-Volleyball on ESPNU today

Cards come through in final regular-season game with win.

Knowing that the surest way to qualify for the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament was beating Providence, the University of Louisville Field Hockey team delivered...knocking off the Friars 2-1 yesterday at Providence.

The Cards (12-7, 3-3) clinched the #3 seed and will face #2 UConn Friday night in Trager Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Syracuse and Providence will match up in the first game Friday.

"We are just so proud of our team with the way we have applied ourselves in recent weeks. We knew what was on the line and we continued to stay focused on the process. We are absolutely thrilled that we have made it back to the BIG EAST Tournament and we are playing at home. To have this opportunity is fabulous and much deserved for this team." -- Justine Sowry, Louisville head coach.

The Cards opened the scoring with just 17 seconds left in the first half. Alyssa Voelmle got an unassisted score to give UofL the advantage after a half of solid defense by both teams.

Conrad comes through!

After the break, Providence tied the match seven minutes into the action. Louisville took the lead seven minutes later when the Cards capitalized on a Providence passing error near their net and Becca Maddock found Erin Scheidtmiller with a pass that Scheidtmiller converted into the final score of the game.

Erin Conrad stepped up in a huge way for the Cards with six saves. Providence outshot Louisville 11-9 in the contest.

Tickets for the BIG EAST Tournament are available through the UofL Athletic Office at 502-852-5151. Cost is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors/youth and college students get in free with a valid student ID.

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CARDINAL COUPLE staff columnist JENNY O'BRYAN attended the Saturday UofL men's scrimmage that featured the WBB squad opening the event with a mini-scrimmage. Here are her observations:

The women's team spent 10 minutes before the men's game scrimmaging/playing/practicing against their men's practice players. The women "won" 21-12.

All players played for a few minutes except Tia Gibbs, Asia Taylor and Cortnee Walton. Of the three, Tia hobbled on to the court and looked like she was in pain. Asia and Cortnee "presented" fine...although Asia looked like she was dog tired.

Coach talked for most of the time with P.A. announcer Sean Moth while the team was playing.

Megan Deines came down the court and nailed a three-pointer for the first shot of the scrimmage. She took a second shot a few minutes from beyond the arc and drained it also. She looked quick and agile. Coach Walz joked that those were the first two shots that she had made in a month.

The next three-point Cardinal specialist?

Sara Hammond looked lean and more toned than last year. She had a confidence about her that I did not always see last year. She looked solid and I expect her to have a break out season. Walz stated that she has been putting in a lot of work in the off-season and is looking great.

Shawnta Dyer looked good and showed a lot of strength in the paint.

Mo Reid was only in for a few minutes but was very impressive. Nice score in the paint and great rebounding. I have so missed watching Mo play. Walz stated that Mo is still recovering from her knee surgery and will play the minutes she can play. He expects her to be at full speed by conference play.

- Jenny O'Bryan

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Thanks for the great recap of the Cards 10 minutes, Jenny! In other WBB news, highly sought-after and #1 ranked in the 2013 Class recruit Mercedes Russell was in attendance and her high school coach announced that she will announce her decision Tuesday afternoon at a press conference at her high school. 2:30 p.m. Pacific time. The date and time were apparently set before her visit to Louisville this weekend.

Louisville also has a media day planned at the KFC YUM! Center that day. Coach Walz is scheduled to talk to the media at noon and players will be made available at 12:30. This raises some speculation. Will Walz fly to Oregon for Mercedes' announcement and should we read anything into whether he is at the scheduled media address at the YUM! or not? Has the 6'5" center already decided? Will it be a last-minute decision? Are we over-thinking things here?

Big things developing for Tuesday. And, the Cards open the season Wednesday with an exhibition game against Eckerd College. Free admission for all at the KFC YUM! Center.

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ESPN has released their 2013 Women's College Basketball Rankings and Polls for Week 1 and the Cards are positioned at #9. They received 657 points. Baylor heads the poll and got 1000 points.

Other BIG EAST schools in the top 25 are Connecticut at #2, Notre Dame at #5, St. John's at #14 and DePaul at #25.

See Lola jump, see Lola swing, see Lola kill...Just a reminder that you can catch Louisville Volleyball today on ESPNU against Cincinnati. First serve is at 1 p.m.Have a great Sunday everybody and GO CARDS in the BIG EAST SOCCER Tournament against USF today! ......

Saturday, October 27, 2012

.SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

*******SPECIAL REPORT*******

Louisville defeats Providence 2-1 in Field Hockey. Erin Schneidtmiller scores the difference maker at the 49:12 mark. Goalie Erin Conrad with six saves. Cards are in the BIG EAST Tournament with the win as a #3 seed!

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- Soccer begins BIG EAST Tournament play

- Football wins soggy 34-31 thriller in overtime

Cards begin BIG EAST Tournament quest in Tampa vs Bulls

The University of Louisville women's soccer team faces the South Florida Bulls Sunday at 1 p.m. on their march to take the BIG EAST Tournament. Louisville finished 3rd in the National Division with a 10-4-3 record and 5-3-3 in the BIG EAST. The Cards won their final two regular season games against Seton Hall (3-0) and Cincinnati (2-1)

South Florida is the #2 seed in the American Division and finished with a 10-5-2 record and 6-2-2 in the BIG EAST. They lost their final regular season game to Marquette 4-0.

Louisville is lead by junior Charlyn Corral, who has 23 points on the season (8 goals, 7 assists). Next is Angelika Uremovich with 20 points (9 goals, 2 assists). Goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer has been steady in her duties this season, allowing .95 goals in 17 games.

The winner advances to the semifinals and would play the winner of the Georgetown vs. DePaul game. The semifinals and finals will take place at the Joseph J. Morrone Stadium in Storrs, CT.

Good luck to our women's soccer team! Kick 'em where they ain't!

Football goes to 8-0 and retains the Keg of Nails

I don't believe I've been as wet at a football game since the Florida St. game a decade ago. Still, we made it through the entire contest and Louisville won on a overtime field goal by John Wallace after Terell Floyd intercepted a Munchie Legaux pass intended for the end zone.

Friday, October 26, 2012

The University of Louisville Field Hockey team travels to Providence, R.I. for a Saturday noon match that carries serious post-season consequences.

In short, if the Cards win, they're in the BIG EAST Tournament. A loss drops them into a three-way tie potentially with Rutgers and Villanova. The tie-breaker looks to be more complicated than figuring out ObamaCare or Mitt Romney's route to the ocean from Iran.

Louisville (11-7, 2-3) is on a three-game win streak, last defeating #22 Ohio State. They handled the Friars easily last year in Trager Stadium 6-0. The Cards lead the overall series 8-1.

Providence is 3-1 in their last four games and sports a record of 9-7 on the season...3-2 in the BIG EAST. They're automatically qualified for the BIG EAST Tournament as a third seed...but a loss to Louisville would drop them to the fourth seed.

Speaking of the BIG EAST Tournament, it will be held here in Louisville at Trager Stadium. Semifinal games are next Friday and the championship will be played Sunday. The other participants in the Big East Tournament are top seeded UConn and Syracuse...who face off this weekend to determine who will win the regualr season title.

Good luck to Justine Sowry's flock as they fly north to cook the Friars!

v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v6v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

With no women's athletic events scheduled on campus today, we would draw your attention to a big football game being played at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. The undefeated Louisville Cardinals take on one-loss Cincinnati at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

A contest that has sold out the Pizza Oven. Five things we like about tonight's matchup...

1) UC's quarterback's name. "Munchie" Legaux. Munchie Let-go. Seriously? Got to be one of our favorite opponent names since the days of Baskerville Holmes and Ace Custis...2) Evening football. Gives one a chance to get stuff done during the day and still get out and tailgate a few hours. Friday is even better, we can now go watch the men's bb scrimmage tomorrow.3) They play for "The Keg of Nails". That's just a tough-sounding award. Makes me want to grab a ladder and a hammer or something. Ooh-rah!4) The payback factor. UC beat Louisville last year in Paul Brown Stadium and "Munchie" says he's a better QB than Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater. Harumph!5) A chance for "two". Louisville Volleyball goes to UC for a Monday match. Chance to beat the Bearcats twice in several days appeals to us! Goooo CARDS!
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FIELD HOCKEY SCHEDULE

8/22/15

vs. IOWA *

TRAGER STADIUM

12:00 p.m. ET

08/23/15

vs. ALUMNAE GAME *

TRAGER STADIUM

1:30 p.m. ET

08/28/15

vs. APPALACHIAN STATE

TRAGER STADIUM

6:30 p.m. ET

08/30/15

vs. INDIANA

TRAGER STADIUM

1:30 p.m. ET

09/04/15

at California

Berkeley, Calif.

3:00 p.m. ET

09/06/15

vs. UC Davis

Berkeley, Calif.

3:00 p.m. ET

09/11/15

vs. VIRGINIA #

TRAGER STADIUM

6:00 p.m. ET

09/13/15

vs. LIBERTY

TRAGER STADIUM

1:00 p.m. ET

09/18/15

at North Carolina #

Chapel Hill, N.C.

6:00 p.m. ET

09/20/15

vs. James Madison

Chapel Hill, N.C.

11:00 a.m. ET

09/25/15

vs. WAKE FOREST #

TRAGER STADIUM

6:00 p.m. ET

10/02/15

at Duke #

Durham, N.C.

4:00 p.m. ET

10/04/15

vs. MASSACHUSETTS

TRAGER STADIUM

1:00 p.m. ET

10/09/15

vs. SYRACUSE #

TRAGER STADIUM

6:00 p.m. ET

10/11/15

at Ohio State

Columbus, Ohio

1:00 p.m. ET

10/16/15

at Boston College #

Boston, Mass.

4:00 p.m. ET

10/18/15

at Northeastern

Dedham, Mass.

1:00 p.m. ET

10/25/15

vs. CENTRAL MICHIGAN

TRAGER STADIUM

1:00 p.m. ET

10/30/15

vs. MICHIGAN STATE

TRAGER STADIUM

1:00 p.m. ET

11/01/15

vs. RUTGERS

TRAGER STADIUM

1:00 p.m. ET

ACC Championship

11/05/15

ACC Championship

Charlottesville, Va.

TBA

11/06/15

ACC Championship

Charlottesville, Va.

TBA

11/07/15

ACC Championship

Charlottesville, Va.

TBA

11/08/15

ACC Championship

Charlottesville, Va.

TBA

UofL Volleyball Schedule

08/28/15

at Illinois

Champaign, Ill.

TBA

ACC/Big Ten Challenge

09/04/15

vs. MINNESOTA

KFC YUM! CENTER

7:00 p.m. ET

09/05/15

vs. WISCONSIN

KFC YUM! CENTER

7:00 p.m. ET

Active Ankle Challenge

09/11/15

vs. UTAH

CARDINAL ARENA

7:30 p.m. ET

09/12/15

vs. SETON HALL

CARDINAL ARENA

10:00 a.m. ET

vs. OHIO

CARDINAL ARENA

7:30 p.m. ET

09/16/15

at Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio

6:00 p.m. ET

09/20/15

at Kentucky

Lexington, Ky.

2:00 p.m. ET

09/25/15

at Notre Dame #

Notre Dame, Ind.

7:00 p.m. ET

09/27/15

vs. MIAMI #

KFC YUM! CENTER

12:30 p.m. ET

10/02/15

vs. SYRACUSE #

KFC YUM! CENTER

7:00 p.m. ET

10/04/15

vs. BOSTON COLLEGE #

KFC YUM! CENTER

2:00 p.m. ET

10/09/15

at Georgia Tech #

Atlanta, Ga.

7:00 p.m. ET

10/11/15

at Clemson #

Clemson, S.C.

2:00 p.m. ET

10/16/15

vs. WAKE FOREST #

KFC YUM! CENTER

7:00 p.m. ET

10/18/15

vs. DUKE #

KFC YUM! CENTER

2:00 p.m. ET

10/21/15

vs. NOTRE DAME #

KFC YUM! CENTER

7:00 p.m. ET

10/24/15

at Virginia #

Charlottesville, Va.

7:00 p.m. ET

10/30/15

at North Carolina #

Chapel Hill, N.C.

6:00 p.m. ET

11/01/15

at North Carolina State #

Raleigh, N.C.

2:00 p.m. ET

11/06/15

vs. PITTSBURGH #

KFC YUM! CENTER

7:00 p.m. ET

11/08/15

vs. VIRGINIA TECH #

KFC YUM! CENTER

2:00 p.m. ET

11/13/15

at Miami #

Coral Gables, Fla.

7:00 p.m. ET

11/15/15

at Florida State #

Tallahassee, Fla.

2:00 p.m. ET

11/20/15

vs. CLEMSON #

KFC YUM! CENTER

7:00 p.m. ET

11/22/15

vs. GEORGIA TECH #

KFC YUM! CENTER

2:00 p.m. ET

11/25/15

at Boston College #

Boston, Mass.

1:00 p.m. ET

11/27/15

at Syracuse #

Syracuse, N.Y.

1:00 p.m. ET

UofL Women's Soccer Schedule

8/12/15

at Northern Kentucky *

Highland Heights, Ky.

7:00 p.m. ET

08/16/15

vs. INDIANA *

LYNN STADIUM

5:00 p.m. ET

08/21/15

vs. WRIGHT STATE

LYNN STADIUM

7:30 p.m. ET

08/23/15

vs. WASHINGTON

LYNN STADIUM

1:00 p.m. ET

08/28/15

at Kent State

Kent, Ohio

5:00 p.m. ET

09/04/15

at Kentucky

Lexington, Ky.

7:30 p.m. ET

09/06/15

vs. SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE

LYNN STADIUM

7:30 p.m. ET

09/11/15

at UAB

Birmingham, Ala.

5:30 p.m. ET

09/13/15

at Ole Miss

Oxford, Miss.

1:00 p.m. ET

09/20/15

at Boston College #

Boston, Mass.

12:00 p.m. ET

09/24/15

vs. MIAMI #

LYNN STADIUM

7:00 p.m. ET

09/27/15

vs. PITTSBURGH #

LYNN STADIUM

1:00 p.m. ET

10/01/15

vs. MOREHEAD STATE

LYNN STADIUM

7:00 p.m. ET

10/04/15

at Syracuse #

Syracuse, N.Y.

12:00 p.m. ET

10/08/15

vs. NORTH CAROLINA #

LYNN STADIUM

7:00 p.m. ET

10/11/15

vs. DUKE #

LYNN STADIUM

1:00 p.m. ET

10/17/15

vs. FLORIDA STATE #

LYNN STADIUM

7:00 p.m. ET

10/22/15

at Virginia #

Charlottesville, Va.

7:00 p.m. ET

10/25/15

at NC State #

Raleigh, N.C.

1:00 p.m. ET

10/31/15

at Wake Forest #

Winston-Salem, N.C.

7:00 p.m. ET

ACC Championship

11/06/15

TBA

TBA

TBA

11/08/15

TBA

TBA

TBA

THANK YOU

THE CARDINAL COUPLE T-Shirts we had are sold out. WE hope you got yours. Thank you for supporting Cardinal Couple

ROCKIN' THE COUPLE SHIRT

Our buddy Big Al...lookin' good in his CARDINAL COUPLE T-SHIRT. It's a collector's item now. Thanks to you, they are out-of-stock

E-MAIL US @ cardinalcouple@twc.com

It's OK...everyone else does. You can too! You'll receive a prompt reply from one of the staff champs after we print out your missive, cover it in banana pudding and Bill the Goat eats it !!

We're still on the air! (Click the Mic)

Did you miss the latest installment of CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO on Crescent Hill Radio? It's archived. Click the microphone. Click the microphone to listen live or hear our archived broadcasts. Well, what are you still doing here? Go! Listen to the show! Or just listen to the station. Local music, locally produced talk shows and Cardinal women's sports!! Believe it or don't... but mama's lil' children on the radio and talkin'. Click the mic and give us a listen...

Other sites we recommend you visit. (UofL sites marked with ***) Click on the name and away you go!

Follow us on Twitter

Timmy the Intern

The chimp in the cardigan sweater is up to his nonsense again. "Timmy's All Star Basketball Camp" is nothing more than having you show up at Crawford Gym and play pickup hoops against whoever shows up...Participants get a free towel...one of the many that he "lifted" from the Red Roof Inn Housekeeping Dept. (Timmy! Report to my office immediately! -Sonja)

The Return of MArkie MArk

Chef Shader requires a "two girl minimum" in any public appearance that he makes. He is seen here with the minimum and the legendary "Jesus" of the Magic Bus in the background. Looking good, Billy Ray! Feeling good, Louis!

The wisdom of Rodney...

I tell ya...I get no respect. I went to the carnival. I went in the House of Mirrors...The mirrors refused to show me my reflection...

Corporate Chimp

"To improve the quality of our excellent Customer Service Division, we've now trained all our representatives to answer questions in one syllable words."

Why certainly!

Our customer service representatives at Cardinal Couple Worldwide Enterprises ( A division of Don Paulie Enterprises and Bud Goode Marketing) strive for perfection. If they can't solve your problem or answer your question, they'll either hang up on you or put you on hold and let you listen to "The Best of Boxcar Willie" music!

We love mascots !

Baldwin the Eagle

Hold that Tiger!

Devil with a blue suit on

Proud Seminole

That's one big stinger....

Bassy from the U

Wolfpack attack

Irish pride

Let's go.....Carrots???

Is this Big Red's northern cousin?

Gobbler at a sobriety checkpoint?

Cavalier attitude

We love Big Red

Does your dog bite?

(At least he got the jersey on correctly...)

Mountaineer wonders..."Why am I here?"

NEW E-MAIL FOR CARDINAL COUPLE

You can e-mail us at: cardinalcouple@twc.com. Insight has changed to Time Warner, so our e-mail did, too. We print and save each and every e-mail and put it in a frame and hang it on the wall. OK, maybe not. But we do read them...

Our mission statement:

CARDINAL COUPLE reports on UofL women's sports and athletics and attempts to do it from a fan's perspective. WE are not a official part or department of the University of Louisville, but they do give us a lot of help and information for our site. WE also cover local horse-racing, too. That's a passion WE both share nearly as strongly as going to Louisville athletic events. WE dedicate another website for that. www.paulsykes.com

WE are non-profit. Mom would have been so disappointed...

Any monies received via Pay-Pal or donation go solely to the defrayment of expenses incurred to keep the website and radio show in business. WE draw no salary and accept no advertising.

Corporate sponsorships are available at low, low rates.

Yeah, WE'RE broke most of the time. It happens.

Our OFFICIAL motto here at CARDINAL COUPLE is from the legendary Satchel Paige:

"Don't look back..they may be gaining on you."

(WE ARE NOT a bird-watching site, 'swingers' site, information for Stanford University or any Catholic hierachy. WE don't even like "holier than thou" people much.)

WE are a lot of information and fun, though...and WE invite you to join us for daily update. No fees, no registration, no tracking or cookies (although WE like Macadamia Nut ones).

WE'LL never "spam" you but we'd be glad to sit down and have a spam sandwich with you. As long as you're buying.

What you'll find here are observations and comments on UofL women's sports with occasional other topics, sidebars, diversions and the wackiness that WE'RE known for. Enjoy!

Also, be advised that some of the sections on the right side of this site are parody and OUR sophomoric attempts at humor. Don't worry, WE'RE not quitting our day jobs...and Timmy the Intern isn't real or work for us...

The Surgeon General (or maybe he's just a Private) recommends 2 daily doses of CARDINAL COUPLE for better overall health and happiness. WE'RE smiling, how about you?

These are our principles and if you don't like them...well, WE'VE got others...

-Groucho Marx

A whop bop a lu la....whop bam boom~

(The above statements may not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of all the writers, columnists and sponsors that appear on this website. Eschew Obfuscation, we say. If WE listened to some of our readers and radio show listeners...WE'D concentrate solely on UofL WBB. )

.

-The management and staff of CARDINAL COUPLE-

About the owners

( Thanks to Kenny B. for this write up of CARDINAL COUPLE) --CARDINAL COUPLE is owned by Paul and Sonja Sykes. And this means? Started in DECEMBER 2009, this site is primarily dedicated to womens' athletics at UofL. Other stuff appears here also. Paul and Sonja are both employed in full time jobs not related to the site and run it as a hobby, passion and commitment to the 'joyous excitement that is Cardinal Womens' Athletics.' It isn't always easy, but they try to stay fresh, relevant and timely. Paul is in marketing, Sonja a public school employee. It's worth a daily read. With 5 writers and a cast of imaginary characters, CARDINAL COUPLE is unique as far as sports websites go. I tried to sit down with them for a more in-depth interview but Sonja refused to comment on the site other than noting "It's all Paul. I smile and grin a lot. That's important to know and I want that on the record in case the feds ever raid us." Paul refused to grant me an interview either, matter-of-factly telling me that he's holding out for an appearance on the Jon Stewart Show or Cake Wars. He also suggested I watch the movie "No Time For Sergeants" or the classic bit "Who's On First?" to gain a better insight and knowledge concerning his thought process. Regardless, I recommend CARDINAL COUPLE and give it four out of five stars. After all, it is women's sports. We dig Timmy the Intern and glad to see that William Frawley has resurfaced -- even if it's only in the mind of Paul. They provide links, have a comments section but no message board. You can find it at www.cardinalcouple.com and it is updated daily. Their liberal usage of pictures and photos helps break up the monotony of reading long stretches of print. Couple on, Cardinals!

About the photos...

CARDINAL COUPLE uses photos from all sources in the daily columns that we present to you. If we've used a photo you have taken and want published credit it for it...just contact us and we'll be glad to do so. Shoot, we might even write a feature article about you and call your Mom and tell her what a good son or daughter you are. WE avoid pictures that may be subject to copywrite. Our legal advisors are busy enough chasing ambulances and wheelchairs when they're not trying to figure out trifecta plays at Churchill. Some of the photos are actually taken by the staff of CARDINAL COUPLE. (When we can get the camera away from the chimps). Paul uses his cell phone to take pictures, too. You have been warned. Please realize that the captions that go with the photos are sometimes parodies. It's up to you to figure out which ones are and aren't. We can't spoon feed everything to you, you know... Congratulations if you made it this far in your reading! We know...reading stuff like this can be pretty boring but WE have to put it on the site somewhere so that we can say..."hey, there is disclaimer on the site" in case some bozo decides that they want to sue us or something. Like we have any money. We're so poor we can't even pay attention. We even owe bums money.

I was walking down this road once years ago and I saw this guy chopping down a tree. It was hot, the guy was really sweating and I stopped to watch a while. He finally took a break, cracked a can of beer and then asked me if I had a gun. I hesitated before answering but finally told him that I didn't. He said: "That's a darn shame. I'm cutting down this tree because it's my neighbor's and I'm really pissed off at him right now. I was going to just shoot his sorry a$$..but I decided to do this instead. I'm having second thoughts...though." Somtimes, there just aren't enough trees... (I've never chose that particular walking route since..) .

If I'd taken a picture of that guy working on that tree, I'd been glad to share it with the entire world. That's the way WE see other photos out there. Share 'em and create through exposure and appreciation. We provide credit to the photographer when we feel it's needed. We also pay our taxes on time...